Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Gabelli Asset Management Company Investors (GAMCO Investors), a $30 billion global investment firm headquartered in Rye, New York. Forbes Magazine's 2006 Forbes 400 rankings listed him as #346 on the list of wealthiest Americans and estimated his net worth at $1.0 billion.
Last quarter, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) increased his stake in eBay (EBAY, Financial) by buying 38,600 shares. He currently holds 582,222 shares of the company. The following chart shows his holding history in the company.
eBay is a global technology company that enables commerce through three reportable segments: Marketplaces, Payments and Enterprise. Its Marketplaces segment includes the eBay.com platform and its localized counterparts and the other online platforms, such as the online classifieds sites and StubHub. The Payments segment is comprised of its PayPal business. The Enterprise segment includes the Magento business and provides commerce technologies, Omni-channel operations and marketing solutions for merchants of all sizes that operate in general merchandise categories.
EBay has seen a good increase in its profitability over the last few years. The company's revenues increased from $14.07 billion in 2012 to $17.90 billion in 2014. In the same period, its income from operations increased from $2.89 billion in FY2013 to $3.51 billion in FY2014. Last year, the company's revenues were up 11% year over year, and its adjusted EPS increased 9% year over year. The company generated a free cash flow of $4.4 billion and bought back $4.7 billion worth of shares, reducing its share count by 5%.
Going forward, 2015 is a transition year for the company. The company plans to separate its eBay and Paypal businesses. Management is working on the operating agreement between the two companies. Their guiding principal is to provide each business with a strategic flexibility to maximize its independent potential while maintaining the synergies that have been captured and created over the year. In addition, eBay is also pursuing the sale or IPO of the eBay enterprise business so that it can focus on its two core business.
The company is making good progress towards this separation. In April, eBay’s CEO and incoming CEO designate shared their growth plans for the company post spin-off. Recently, the company finalized Board of Directors for the post spin-off eBay and Paypal. I believe this separation will create substantial value for the investors once it is complete.
eBay is trading at 18.70 times FY2015 consensus EPS estimates. According to sell side estimates, the company’s revenues are expected to grow 6.20% in the current year and 10.50% next year. Out of 41 analysts covering the company, 19 are positive and have buy recommendations, 20 have hold ratings and two have sell ratings. eBay is one of the best in class ecommerce and payments company. The company's longer-term growth outlook remains solid. Further, the separation of the three business – ecommerce, payments and enterprise – will unlock value for the shareholders in the short term. The stock looks attractive given the company's long term growth potential and reasonable valuation.
